


Reflections

by chailattemusings



Category: Friends at the Table (Podcast)
Genre: F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-01-28
Packaged: 2019-10-18 01:27:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17571692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chailattemusings/pseuds/chailattemusings
Summary: Hella is trying to work, which is difficult when the Goddess of Death wants her attention.





	Reflections

**Author's Note:**

  * For [badskeletonpuns](https://archiveofourown.org/users/badskeletonpuns/gifts).



> I adore Hella/Adelaide and was thrilled to fill this request for Secret Samol. Enjoy!

Aubade couldn’t have been more perfect if it tried. The people were kind, their needs were met, and they had the benevolent god Samothes watching over them. He’d learned from his mistakes and crafted a world for others, a world meant to be both generous and selfish. People could take what they wanted and be assured they were never taking it away from someone else. Hella _liked_ Aubade and the freedom she had sailing its edges, even if the knowledge of the Heat and the Dark kept her from fully enjoying the experience.

That, and a certain someone.

Hella sighed as, for the umpteenth time, Adelaide flittered around her shop counter. Hella had picked up more shifts in Adaire’s store as her joy of sailing waned with the mundanity of it–even the surprises Samothes packed into the water like pearl fish and rolling waves were part of the expected now and Hella was seeking a different kind of positivity in the interactions with Adaire’s customers, wrapping their gifts and sending them off with a smile.

It hadn’t been long before Adelaide saw fit to ruin that, too.

“I _like_ this,” she said as she wandered around the small counter space, admiring all the different colors of paper Hella used to wrap customer purchases. Adelaide had changed from her usual decadent dresses to a more fitting blue blouse and pants that poofed outward with a cinch at the ankle and black shoes that clacked on the heavy wood floor. Her hair was tied up and, as always, covered in pearl decorations that shone under the shop’s bright lights as she peered into the boxes under the counter that held all of Hella’s supplies. “It’s so charming!”

“Did you need something?” Hella asked sharply. “I have customers to serve.”

Adelaide popped up into a standing position, hands on her hips as she gazed out at the empty floor of Hella’s little space. It was a small divot in Adaire’s shop, tucked into a wall in the long hallway that wove through different departments, the floor plan carefully curated so that patrons walked by Hella’s counter on every other trip to the next section, tempted by the bright colors of the trim around its entrance to pay an extra coin for lovely wrapping on whatever they bought. There were plenty of people beyond the doorway, passing from one place to another in Ducartes, some of them holding the famous little tarts and chatting happily with friends, but no one coming in for gift wrapping.

“I think you have some free time to entertain me,” Adelaide said coyly, sidling up to Hella behind the counter. “This is what you do when you don’t want to spend time with me on the boat? Stand and smile at customers?”

“It makes them happy,” Hella said with no energy in her voice.

“Since when does Hella Veral care about making people _happy_?”

Hella bristled but didn’t give Adelaide the satisfaction of the glare she so severely wanted to shoot her way. “Since I grew up. It’s been enough years.”

The answer hadn’t been as snappish as Adelaide liked and she huffed, leaning back to look across the interior of the store beyond Hella’s tiny office. Her gaze drifted lazily from one group of people to the next, assessing them like she might a flock of birds that had happened to perch nearby and she hoped to find some kind of pattern in the arrangement they’d chosen.

“Adaire’s made quite the place for herself here,” she said instead, leaning over the counter, chin propped up on one hand. “I’m impressed.”

Hella busied herself kneeling below the counter to rearrange some of the wrapping paper tubes that had fallen out of place with Adelaide’s meddling.

“Is this your place, Hella?” Adelaide peered down at her where she knelt on the floor. “This little workspace?”

“My place is my boat.” Hella stood straight again and smiled at a couple that walked by and glanced inside, but they didn’t step in. Just as well. Adelaide might harass them if they did.

“You haven’t been on the boat in weeks.”

“I needed a break.”

“From _your_ space?” Adelaide tilted her head at her. “Maybe it’s not as much yours as you’d like it to be, hm?” Her tongue curled as she spoke, lips twitching to fight back a curious grin. Hella _did_ throw a glare that time, trying to silence her. It only broke Adelaide’s facade, her feigned concern wiped in a moment as she laughed at Hella’s attempt. “So,” she chirped, sidling up to Hella, “this is what you do? Wrap purchases for later?”

“If people come in, yes.”

“Can I try?” she asked with a mischievous grin.

Hella glanced at the shoppers passing by in front of the entry and Adelaide’s wide smile. “Sure,” she said hesitantly. “I’ll teach you.”

Adelaide squirmed with delight like a cat preparing to pounce, watching Hella with eager eyes as she searched for something to wrap. There were plenty of discarded little boxes under the wrapping counter and she grabbed one at random, as well as paper, a small knife, and string, to set on the table. “Take the paper,” she said, grabbing the edge of the roll, “and spread it out.”

Adelaide moved in close, their hips touching. Hella’s breath caught and she fought against the instinct to leap away, placing her hands firmly on the paper. “Cut it to size,” she said, placing the box in the middle and folding the edge of the paper over, to be sure she had enough on one side. With the knife she sliced a section free and pushed the roll aside.

“Slow down,” Adelaide cooed, leaning in. Hella could smell the heavy jasmine perfume she liked to wear, the floral scent wafting around her. The power behind it was almost sharp, settling heavily in the back of Hella’s nostrils. It was followed by a stab of citrus scent that chased behind the sweetness to balance it and she found herself inhaling again to get another whiff.

She blinked and noticed Adelaide beaming at her. Hella wiped her expression clear and refocused on the box. “Take this,” she said, folding the edges over the middle. “Cut off the excess and fold again,” her fingers worked quickly, practiced after so long of taking shifts in Ducarte’s. Once folded she held the paper with one hand and grabbed the roll of string with the other, working it around and cutting the piece to tie it together at the top. “There,” she said, holding the box up, a triumphant hand on her hip. “Easy as pie.”

“You’re so good at everything you do,” Adelaide said breezily, plucking the box from Hella’s palm to turn it over in her hands. “Gift wrapping. Killing. You truly are the whole package.” She tossed the box back like a loose orange and Hella darted to catch it on instinct, placing it delicately on the counter despite knowing it contained absolutely nothing.

Adelaide had already bent under the counter again to snatch a different box and bump Hella aside with her hip to make room for herself and gather the supplies back up. Hella crossed her arms and kept one eye on Adelaide, the other on the gift wrapping entrance to be sure no customers were forced to deal with Adelaide’s precociousness.

She worked deftly, her hands practiced at holding a scepter and the throats of those beneath her. The way she cut the paper and held it in place as she folded with like a dance, swift and simple, and she finished it off with an elegant bow on the string that looked volumes more impressive than Hella’s functional knots. “There,” she said, holding up her work. “Not half bad, hm?”

Hella couldn’t hold back a small laugh. “It’s good,” she agreed, taking the box from her. The folds in the paper were sharper, everything done to precision. “Nothing less than the best from the queen of death.”

“Oh, please.” Adelaide leaned over the counter again, propping her chin on her hand. “I have flaws, too, Hella. You don’t need to act so jealous.”

“Jealous?” Hella huffed. “What is there to be jealous about?”

Adelaide framed her face with her other hand by way of answer.

Hella snorted. “I’m perfectly happy the way I am, thank you. Being jealous is a waste of time.”

“Is that so?” Adelaide peered out at the store again, tilting her head to a song that wasn’t playing. “You’re not jealous of Adaire finding her purpose here? Or Lem, keeping himself so busy he doesn’t have time to think of all the ways things could go wrong once you get out of the sword?” Her gaze cut back to Hella, eyes like daggers. “Is there _nothing_ you want for here in Aubade?”

“Of course I- I _want_ things,” she sputtered. “But it’s fine! Everything we could ever need is here!” She gestured out with wide open arms. “There’s no better place to want things than in here!”

Adelaide clucked her tongue and straightened up to face Hella, her expression contemplative. “I suppose that’s true, isn’t it? It’s easier to want things in here.” Her eyes had gone dark, tracing up and down Hella’s frame. “After so long in Aubade, even the best of us have a difficult time not wanting for things we can’t have.”

Hella squared her shoulders. “What can’t you have?”

“A lot of things, Hella.” She blinked and the distance between them seemed to melt, Adelaide’s familiar smile sliding back into place like a lock to a key. “It’s almost closing time, isn’t it?”

“What?” Hella turned to glance at the clock on the far wall, surprised at how much time had gone. Talking to Adelaide made the rest of the world fade into the background. She quickly put away her supplies and shut the cabinets beneath the counter, knowing Adaire would be making rounds soon to see the shop locked up properly. She started to move around Adelaide and hesitated, meeting her gaze. “Are you coming?”

Adelaide grinned. “Always.” And she reached out, sliding her hand like a glove over Hella’s tense fist, holding it tenderly as Hella led them from the store, through Aubade’s dwindling afternoon crowds, down to the shore where her boat was waiting. It was hard not to want things in Aubade, Hella thought, looking at Adelaide’s soft face contrasted with her sharp eyes.

Especially the things she shouldn’t have.


End file.
